Ghastly murders are taking place in Paris 1899 and the seemingly clueless crime scenes baffle the French police. When her fiancée is taken into custody as the police's key suspect, Claire (played by Rebecca De Mornay) pleads with her father to take the case. Claire's father is none other than Auguste Dupin (George C. Scott), the finest detective in all of France who was forced into retirement by the ignorant prefect of police (Ian McShane). Dupin finally agrees to take the case and with the help of family friend and future detective, Philippe (Val Kilmer), he soon discovers the case is much more bizarre then he could ever have imagined.

Veteran television director Jeannot Szwarc (Night Gallery) brings one of the most memorable Poe stories to the small screen. This is pretty standard stuff and it's obvious that Szwarc was not terribly interested in the material. The cinematography is practically nonexistent and many of the shots are drab and uninspired. The lighting is well done and the music is effectively creepy. Unfortunately, this isn't enough to save this TV movie from a lifeless execution.

George C. Scott is a terrific actor and manages to breathe some life into his role when he could have easily phoned this one in. In typical Scott style, he even manages to blow his top in the first 10 minutes of the movie. Ian McShane is great as the belligerent police prefect but doesn't get much screen time. Although both are terrific actors, Rebecca De Mornay and Val Kilmer are stiff here and come off as too inexperienced to push their roles beyond anything except generic.

Despite a good cast, this version of The Murders in the Rue Morgue isn't nearly as enjoyable as either the 1932 or the 1971 versions. The film is decent but passable, mostly due to an unsatisfying and abrupt climax of the story. There are some interesting moments when the detective work gets underway but they're not enough to salvage this one.